LCHF for "Dummies"
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You are certainly most welcome and thanks for the review - hope it helps others.I bought the book. I skimmed through it, read the section on 8+ (having more than 8 stone to lose) as it relates to me and then I skipped to the recipes. There is a list of recipes with links to the pages at the end of the book. You can link to the recipes from the Contents.
This is what I've been looking for. Simple, easy to follow recipes. Especially the sauces. I've had trouble adding fats and sauces are the answer. I made a sauce to have with steak last night and am making the hollandaise to have with bacon, eggs and spinach for breakfasts.
You are right that the book is book is written in an easy to follow and understand manner. I may one day go back and read the entire book but for now I have the information I was searching for.
Thanks DD.
Glad you enjoyed and keep us posted on your "fav" sauces/menus.
Take care, enjoy the holidays, and "bon appetite"
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Fascinating reading! I will definitely download the ebook.
One question, and maybe this is something discussed before, but I'm a newbie: to what extent do you all think genetics/ancestry plays a role in how well a person's body responds to LCHF living?
I ask because I've felt for years that I am just MEANT to eat this way, despite the naysaying of my doctors, nutritionist, and all and sundry. My family is Swedish, my mom first generation American, and when I saw the author, it clicked again. I also lived for a time in an Aleut village and ate a very subsistence high protein diet and was the healthiest I've ever been. Whenever I live out of this high carb cou,try, weight just falls off of me. Whenever I come back, it buries me.
K in Maine0 -
Hi Karen,
Genetics is why I started researching for a different approach to eating.
In January I committed to improving my health. I wasn't in a hurry and over the course of 10 months I generally became more active in life with doing any intentional exercise as such. I felt a lot better but hadn't lost any size. In fact, I was slightly larger which was a bit annoying to be honest. Feeling better and being able to get about a bit easier compensated for it though.
I went home for a week in June to visit my family. I hadn't seen my Dad in 8 years and it was news to me that his Type II diabetes had developed into Type I (insulin dependent) diabetes. I was surprised because I know that he spent a year eating low carb, lost 50+ kgs and had reduced his medication. Since then he has regained all the weight and I noticed that a large chunk of his diet is sugars and carbs. A quick look around the family would show anyone that being overweight/obese definitely runs in our family. This lead me to start researching the link between insulin and sugars and carbs. It made sense to me that if the body was having insulin issues then reducing sugars and carbs would help ease them.
I was frankly amazed at how much new research there is and also watched a science based tv program about brand new research into low carb eating. (The link for those interested abc.net.au/catalyst/lowcarb/ ) I decided to try it out and see if it helped me. It did. It's only been 6 weeks but I've felt a marked improvement in my energy levels, the strength in my muscles and my size has decreased. One major improvement I noticed was that I could walk up the hill at the local school without feeling as though I was going to collapse. I did it 3 times. This improvement came not from increased exercise but from simply changing my diet. But I digress.
My husband is 6'3" and lanky and eats far more than I do without doing a whole lot of exercise. We eat basically the same foods and he could never understand why we could eat so differently and our bodies responded so radically differently. He's commented on many occasions that I ate far healthier than he did.
So yes, I believe there is a genetic link. This is also most likely why different eating programs suit different people. One size does NOT fit all.
Cheers.
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K;Fascinating reading! I will definitely download the ebook.
One question, and maybe this is something discussed before, but I'm a newbie: to what extent do you all think genetics/ancestry plays a role in how well a person's body responds to LCHF living?
I ask because I've felt for years that I am just MEANT to eat this way, despite the naysaying of my doctors, nutritionist, and all and sundry. My family is Swedish, my mom first generation American, and when I saw the author, it clicked again. I also lived for a time in an Aleut village and ate a very subsistence high protein diet and was the healthiest I've ever been. Whenever I live out of this high carb cou,try, weight just falls off of me. Whenever I come back, it buries me.
K in Maine
I'm not familiar with any research that would relate to "...genetics/ancestry plays a role in...how a person's body responds to LCHF...".
As far as I know, genetics "can" have an impact on IF a person is prone to insulin resistance but it's more of a "somewhat increased" probability than a definite thing.
Thyroid issues are similar and I think more closely related to genetics on the maternal side.
But both of those deal more with the "problems" LCHF can address than with how a individual will respond to being on the diet itself (as opposed to being on a high carb diet).
So, short answer (and it's really more a "guess" than it is an "answer") is, I doubt either have much effect at all.
To ancestry, again there are certainly ancestry specific examples of different cultures adapting in different ways to traditional diets but there are also examples of when those cultures have been exposed to "western" (high carb) diets they too develop the same types of problems (obesity, T2D, etc) in very short order where none existed historically.
Again, it's conjecture on my part but I doubt in your case that either genetics or ancestry would have much, if any, impact on how you would respond to LCHF.
Even with your Swedish heritage, not necessarily because ancestry might not be a factor, but rather because up until fairly recently the Swedes were following pretty much the same diet and nutrition advice (USDA low fat/high carb) as us.
They were among the first to question it though and are today on the forefront of reversing the "conventional wisdom" (years ahead of us).
I'm not familiar with Still's but a quick trip to the googlemachine tells me that it appears to have inflammation at its root (as we are learning so many problems do) but no direct ties to
insulin levels, at least from what I've seen. You did say though that weight has been a problem for you most of your life and you seem to have discovered a fairly consistent correlation between carb intake and weight gain/loss over the years so it's probably a safe bet to assume either some level of IR or at least carb intolerance and there's little doubt any longer that for "most" in that circumstance LCHF is "just what the doctor ordered" (except that they too often don't).
I'm not an md, dietitian, or nutritionist and can't comment on whatever else you have going on that may be having an impact, but you certainly wouldn't be the first person with a similar set of circumstances to receive dietary advice based on the "cut the fat, increase fruits, grains, and vegs, and exercise more" dogma when in fact your symptoms might indicate exactly the opposite.
Neither would you be the first to encounter medical/nutritional "experts" so set in their ways as to pull out the drug script pad and schedule surgery while dismissing out of hand the dietary advice that might just address the problem with less drastic measures.
My advice would be to seek out the services of a doctor familiar with, and not predisposed to "naysay" LCHF out of hand and at least provide a second opinion taking into consideration whatever interactions might be involved given your other "issues".
My "guess" would be that you would experience the same, or similar results by adopting an LCHF diet that most do but the Still's (and associated meds) is a wildcard and were I you, I'd want that second opinion.
Here's a link that might help you locate a more "enlightened" doc near you:
http://tinyurl.com/kojqy7
Looks like there are three not that far from you and even one right in your hometown.
BTW, love Maine too.
My parents had a cottage on Sebago and we spent our summers there when I was a kid (back in the stone age). One of my first jobs after school was working on a CMP powerline that ran from Cousins Island to Biddeford.....pretty country but these days the winters are just too much for me.
Best of luck and enjoy the holidays0 -
Quick response---thanks for your insights! I'm not far from Sebago and am privileged to live on a clean Maine lake that I swim every day in summer.0
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Sajyana, like you, I think the jury is still out on the genetic component of diet suitability. Deansdad, when I was thinking ancestors' diets, I was thinking pre-modern. What did my Viking and Celtic ancestors eat? I know they were seafaring, so presumably a lot of northern sea fish. Interestingly, when I lived in the Aleutians, we ate fresh salmon, halibut, and crab constantly and I thrived. My husband's people are Aztec. My neighbor is Chinese. I'd be curious to know more about their ancestors' dietary staples (ancient, protein heavy grains like quinoa? Bulgar? Rice?). I have quite a few friends who love plant-based eating. Were their ancestors inland dwellers, nomadic gatherers? Just spit-balling here. I wonder if Michael Pollan has explored this.
I just had a sleeve gastrectomy (surgical reduction of the size of my stomach) for a number of reasons (35+ years of eating disorders and yoyo dieting, hypothyroidism, menopause, and being stuck on prednisone, to name a few), and after our initial liquid diet phase, the rule for eating is basic: protein first. After healing, there are no restrictions on what I CAN eat, but because the quantity is restricted, I need to choose wisely. So protein first, then fat, then MAYBE a veg. Very little room for fruits. None for carbs. Absolutely no sugar. Since this is my preferred way of eating, I'm excited to have a tool for portion control, my nemesis.
Oooops, babbling on here!
Oh, and DeansDad, AOSD (adult onset Still's disease) is rare and poorly researched, but it's typically lumped in with autoinflammatory disorders or periodic fever syndromes like familial Mediterranean fever. It occurs equally among men and women and equally in countries all over the globe, with slightly higher numbers in Japan, Norway, Nigeria, and Turkey, but even there only 2 out of a million get it. The disease has been a chronic horror show in my life for ten years, unchanged by diet, alternative medicines, or climate.
K in Maine
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Sajyana, like you, I think the jury is still out on the genetic component of diet suitability. Deansdad, when I was thinking ancestors' diets, I was thinking pre-modern. What did my Viking and Celtic ancestors eat? I know they were seafaring, so presumably a lot of northern sea fish. Interestingly, when I lived in the Aleutians, we ate fresh salmon, halibut, and crab constantly and I thrived. My husband's people are Aztec. My neighbor is Chinese. I'd be curious to know more about their ancestors' dietary staples (ancient, protein heavy grains like quinoa? Bulgar? Rice?). I have quite a few friends who love plant-based eating. Were their ancestors inland dwellers, nomadic gatherers? Just spit-balling here. I wonder if Michael Pollan has explored this.
Vikings were as much farmers, shepherds, and hunters as they were fishermen. A large portion of the meat from their diet came from caribou, pork (they raised hogs), and even horse. The amount and types of vegetation they ate depended on where they were at, but things like carrots, cabbage, apples, and other such hardy plants were not uncommon.0 -
[quote= ...What did my Viking and Celtic ancestors eat?...[/quote]
These Northern Natives may not be your ancestry...
interesting article about their traditional diet:
In your fav search engine:
"The Sami paradox or how to dismiss a traditional low carb, high protein diet" 0 -
That settles it! We must have been Sami, not Viking! How interesting. I had no idea reindeer milk was high in fat.
Incidentally, I've been reading Skaldeman's book today, and I think the best parts are the recipes.
K.0 -
Yes, discovery is interesting...
and one of the health benefits
success stories of Sweden's
Sten Sture Skaldeman's KISS formulaic
discovery is Tommy, also of Sweden.
His Skaldeman biometric journal
is posted online...
eatlowcarbhighfat.com.
Mr Skaldeman has his own website...
skaldeman.se/home.html
Keeping It Simple in Sweden 0 -
If I am to stick with the 100F- 80P -20 C I am having trouble getting enough fat into my plan to meet this goal.
I fry my meat in butter. I use the HWC in my coffee I use cheese and cream cheese. I know fat on the meat would be good but I am not finding fatty cuts of mat right now.
Suggestions.
Thank you.0 -
Shades;shadesofidaho wrote: »If I am to stick with the 100F- 80P -20 C I am having trouble getting enough fat into my plan to meet this goal.
I fry my meat in butter. I use the HWC in my coffee I use cheese and cream cheese. I know fat on the meat would be good but I am not finding fatty cuts of mat right now.
Suggestions.
Thank you.
We're one foot out the door for (yet another) holiday fest, so rather than compose a treatise I'd invite you to have a look at my (and any other's) food diaries for ideas.
Have a great holiday!!!
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Thank you and enjoy tour Feast.
Would some one here or several some ones friend me so I can see how you are getting enough fat into your meals to stay on plan. Thank you.
Chris
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shadesofidaho wrote: »If I am to stick with the 100F- 80P -20 C I am having trouble getting enough fat into my plan to meet this goal.
I fry my meat in butter. I use the HWC in my coffee I use cheese and cream cheese. I know fat on the meat would be good but I am not finding fatty cuts of mat right now.
Suggestions.
Thank you.
That's a lot of it. Big thing I've found is to not be afraid of being generous with the butter, especially when cooking lean meats (I noticed you used "1 pat," which you could easily double if you wanted to). I've even been known to add butter to prime rib.
Fat bombs and cream cheese clouds (just Google for recipes) can help fill in the gaps when you're starting out, but judging from the last couple of days in your diary, you seem to be on the right track.
You can also take your tea a step further and put butter and/or coconut oil in it. (See also: Tibetan butter tea and Bulletproof Coffee.)0 -
Thank you Dragonwolf. UGH it i so hard to break the mind set of low fat. I have been doing low fat for so long that eating it now makes me feel so sick. I will keep trying. AT least I am keeping my carbs fairly low. Now I must google a cream cheese cloud. I have read about the bullet proof coffee. I do have the coconut oil. I did not get the mct oil yet.
When I was on Atkins before it was all about the low carbs. I do not remember eating s much fat. Giving up is not an option. Tomorrow is another day. It is just so hard to keep the fat high and calories within reason. I was trying to stay about 1200 but maybe I need to give that up. I did raise my calorie here to 1400 because it made me mad when I went over 1200.
Thank you so much.0 -
shadesofidaho wrote: »Thank you Dragonwolf. UGH it i so hard to break the mind set of low fat. I have been doing low fat for so long that eating it now makes me feel so sick. I will keep trying. AT least I am keeping my carbs fairly low. Now I must google a cream cheese cloud. I have read about the bullet proof coffee. I do have the coconut oil. I did not get the mct oil yet.
When I was on Atkins before it was all about the low carbs. I do not remember eating s much fat. Giving up is not an option. Tomorrow is another day. It is just so hard to keep the fat high and calories within reason. I was trying to stay about 1200 but maybe I need to give that up. I did raise my calorie here to 1400 because it made me mad when I went over 1200.
Thank you so much.
The nice thing about LCHF is that you can often eat more calories and still lose weight (this is in part due to the fact that it takes a little more energy to burn fat and protein than it does refined carbs -- generally, it's negligible, but when you're getting upwards of 90% of your calories from these sources, it adds up to a couple hundred calories).
It may take a little time to get used to that much fat if you've been low-fat for a very long time. You may also get some digestive upset as your gut adjusts. You can deal with both by scaling back your fat intake to what you can currently handle, and slowly increase your intake until you reach your goal amount. As long as you keep your other macros in check, hitting your fat goal will not put you over your calorie goal (since the macros are based on a percentage of your calories, it's not really possible to be at or below them and be over calories).
Regarding the bulletproof coffee (and LCHF in more general), you don't need the MCT oil, especially if you have access to good coconut oil. Coconut oil is a very large percentage of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), and MCT oil is basically just a very refined version. So don't feel like you have to have it, even for bulletproof coffee.0 -
I need to learn about Macros. Everything has changed. I really appreciate your explaining all of this to me. I found a fun blog while googling Cream cheese clouds and fat bombs. It has lots of yummy sounding recipes. I do have some good coconut oil. I need to get more veggies. I need to eat more healthy with the high fat. I was just in a hurry all day today. Cooking simple and quick.
Thank you again.0 -
Definitely going to get the book for my kindle. This is what I was looking for, recipes and easy counting! Thanks DeansDad.0
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Dawl;dawlfin318 wrote: »Definitely going to get the book for my kindle. This is what I was looking for, recipes and easy counting! Thanks DeansDad.
You are certainly most welcome - glad it helped.
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Typo I think in the OP:
"The ONLY "math" involved is adding protein and fat grams (from the label) dividing fat grams by the sum to arrive at what he calls the "fat burning ratio"."
I believe it's adding protein and carb grams, not protein and fat.0
